'Tamil Nadu awaiting a political change: BJP's Annamalai thanks PM Modi for being fielded from Coimbatore

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Thursday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for fielding him in the Lok Sabha elections from Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore. "Heartfelt thanks to our beloved PM Thiru @narendramodi for constituting his faith in me and making me to contest from Coimbatore in the 2024 Parliamentary election," he said in a tweet. "This comes at a time when the people of TN are awaiting a political change that will take TN towards the destiny of development."

Annamalai, whose padayatra gained massive traction and raised expectations of the saffron party in the southern state, also thanked BJP National President JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP National General Secretary (Org) BL Santhosh for their trust in him and the other candidates declared today as part of the first set of candidates for Tamil Nadu. 

The BJP's firebrand leader said he was confident that the saffron party would significantly contribute to realising the 400+ seats for BJP in the upcoming parliament elections. 

This evening, the BJP announced candidates for nine Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu. The party fielded former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan from Chennai South and K Annamalai from Coimbatore. The party also fielded former DMK leader and sitting MP T R Paarivendhar and Union Minister L Murugan from Perambalur and Nilgiris respectively. 

Former Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan will contest from Kanniyakumari. Vinoj P Selvam will contest from Chennai Central, A C Shanmugam from Vellore, C Narasimhan from Krishnagiri, and Nainar Nagendran from Thoothukkudi. 

Polling for 39 Lok Sabha seats will be held in the first phase on April 19. The BJP did not win a single seat from Tamil Nadu in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.